Nelson Marlborough DHB is expected to reach 90 per cent double vaccination among its eligible population later today - there were just 246 doses to go as of midnight. That would make it the 10th DHB to reach that milestone.
South Canterbury needs 195 more doses, Hawkes Bay 1714 doses and Waikato 3557 doses to reach 90 per cent.
Announcements around giving children the vaccines, any changes to border restrictions and when people can get boosters will be made at 2pm today.
The person who was transferred from managed isolation to Middlemore Hospital and left without being discharged was accompanied by their child. The child was transferred in the ambulance with the parent because they were too young to be left alone at MIQ.
Police are currently investigating the early Monday morning incident.
The parent tested negative twice; the first time on day 0 in managed isolation. A further Rapid Antigen Test, upon arrival at the hospital on Sunday night, came back negative.
The Ministry of Health said it was important for the pair to return to MIQ to complete isolation and for further Day 3 and Day 6 testing.
It was releasing the information about the pair to help with the investigation into their whereabouts.
Meanwhile, just four more Māori need to get their first dose in the Wairarapa DHB area to reach 90 per cent first-dosed.
Southern DHB has 42 doses to go and Waitemata another 225 doses to reach 90 per cent of eligible Māori with their first dose.
Five other DHBs have already reached this mark - and two DHBs are approaching 90 per cent of the eligible Māori population being double-jabbed.
Auckland DHB needs 1118 more doses and Capital and Coast needs 1154 to reach that milestone for Māori.
And mid-Central DHB has just six doses to go to reach 90 per cent of eligible Pacific peoples fully vaccinated, while Canterbury needs just 10 more and Waikato needs 108.
The Pacific population is already 90 per cent double-dosed in nine other DHBs.
Across the country Māori vaccination rates are at 87 per cent first doses and 78 per cent second doses. Pacific peoples are at 94 per cent and 88 per cent respectively.
Of the 57 people in hospital with Covid, 10 are at North Shore, 25 at Auckland, 19 at Middlemore, one at Northland and two at Waikato.
Seven people are in intensive care or a high dependency unit - one at North Shore, two at Auckland, three at Middlemore and one at Northland.
The average age of those in hospital is 49.
Among those in hospital in the northern region wards, excluding ED, 55 per cent are not vaccinated or ineligible. 12 per cent have only had one dose or less than a week since their second dose, and 21 per cent are fully vaccinated. The vaccination status of the remaining 12 per cent is not known.
In Auckland, there are 2015 people isolating at home including 569 cases.
Four of the five new cases in the Bay of Plenty are in Tauranga, and one in Murapara - the latter is a household contact of a known case.
In Taranaki, one new case is linked to the Eltham cluster and the other to a New Plymouth case. There are now 32 active cases in the region.
Of the five new cases found at the border, two came from the United Kingdom and one from Tanzania. The travel history of the remaining two has not been confirmed yet.
The number of community cases of Covid-19 are continuing to fall as the number of new Omicron cases coming in at the border has risen.
There have been a total of 22 cases of Omicron picked up at the border so far, including nine yesterday.
There were 69 new community Covid cases yesterday comprising 59 in Auckland, seven in Waikato, two in the Bay of Plenty and one in Taranaki.
There were also 62 cases in hospital today, including seven in ICU or HDU.
Cabinet met yesterday to review its response to Omicron as it continues to spread around the world and any decisions made will be announced at 2pm by Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins.
Meanwhile, the emergence of the Omicron variant may have officials taking a cautious approach.
Te Pūnaha Matatini complex systems researcher Dr Dion O'Neale told RNZ more cases would keep arriving at the border could increase the chance of one leaking out into the community.
"At the moment, most of those [MIQ] infections will be Omicron from now on, purely because Omicron is most of the cases in countries that people are coming back to New Zealand from.
"At some point, it does become a matter of time until that gets out into the community," O'Neale said.
Vaccine experts warned the Herald yesterday it was only a matter of time until Omicron entered the community, which is why it was important for people to get the booster.
Malaghan Institute of Medical Research director professor Graham Le Gros believed the amount of time between the second dose of the vaccine and the booster should be shortened from six months to five or even four months.
He said data showed having the third shot of the Pfizer vaccine made a significant difference in increasing immunity which stops transmission and "crushes the virus".
University of Auckland associate professor Helen Petousis-Harris felt five months was also the correct amount of time and believed the current border controls should stay in place for now to try and keep Omicron out while people got boosted.
Australia currently has a five-month gap, while Omicron-stricken UK is hurriedly giving boosters after three months.
Hipkins is also expected to confirm whether travellers planning to return to New Zealand will have to continue going through the MIQ process in an attempt to keep Omicron out.
Possible options could see plans to get rid of MIQ altogether for fully vaccinated New Zealanders delayed or scrapped or for stays in MIQ to be lengthened again.
The announcement could impact fully vaccinated New Zealanders and resident-class visa holders who had been told they could return from Australia from January 17 without any MIQ.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment also delayed the next release of MIQ rooms today until tomorrow "due to the evolving situation with Omicron".
"We need to carefully manage capacity as more travellers spend longer in MIQ. This reduces available rooms in MIQ," the statement said.
Cabinet was also expected to decide whether and when to start vaccinations for 5- to 11-year-olds after MedSafe gave preliminary approval for the Pfizer rollout to children.
